
Dora Tan
Head of Sale, Specialist
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HK$240,000 - HK$380,000
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Head of Sale, Specialist

International Director
西藏 十六/十七世紀 銅鎏金綠度母像
This excellent representation of Green Tara reveals the artist's profound knowledge of – and reverence for – the goddess, who is worshipped as a savior and "Mother of all Buddhas". Her sublime compassion is immediately felt from a glance at her benevolent face. She leans her well-proportioned body slightly to the right, extending her right arm in the gesture of charity while gently resting her pendant right foot on a small lotus emerging from the larger lotus base, signifying her readiness to come to our aid.
Chinese influence is evident in the treatment of decorative details such as her soft and silky celestial scarf fluidly falling from her shoulders, and her loose-fitting dhoti in dramatic folds across her legs. These elements are probably derived from early Ming imperial bronzes gifted to Tibetan monasteries during the first half of the 15th century. More specifically, compare the asymmetric treatment of the scarf (with its proper left end forming a loop around her left forearm while the right end falls directly on her right thigh before spilling on the lotus throne) with a Xuande period (1425-35) Green Tara sold at Christie's, London, 5 November 2018, lot 26.
Compare the figural modelling, the treatment of the scarf and lower garment, and the wide, plump lotus petals to a slightly earlier figure of Green Tara at Shalu Monastery in Southern Tibet (see von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet, Vol.II, Hong Kong, 2003, pp.1204-5, no.329E).